The Promise
by Samurainoble
Summary: Sora is 42. He's been fighting the Heartless for nearly thirty years, searching for his home. But when he comes across a gummi that might help him along, is it as useful as he first thought it would be, or just more trouble? Chps. 2, 3 and 4. Please R
1. Chapter 1: The Promise

The Promise  
By: Samurainoble  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts®  
Sora is alone. He has been fighting the Heartless for nearly thirty years, desperately trying to get home. He has tried many different gummies and worlds trying to get back to the Destiny Islands, but what will happen when he comes upon one that will take him home, but to that point thirty years ago that he left Kairi alone. Will he tell her the truth of his identity, that it will pointless to wait for him to come back to her, or leave her with the hope that will keep her waiting for something that might never come?  
Sora leaned back in the pilot's seat of his gummy ship, the Ragnarok, trying to regain his energy. He was floating outside Gaia 25, one of the many worlds he watched over by himself, wondering why he bothered to go on.  
  
Sora had been forced to mature quickly after he allowed Goofy and Donald to return to Disney Castle with King Mickey 28 years ago, leaving him (Sora) to protect the worlds from the remaining Heartless.   
  
He pulled the Ragnarok into the port of Gaia 25 for repair. He flinched in pain when his left fore arm sparked a little. It was once a real arm, but it was taken by an Invisible years back, forcing him to have it replaced with a quick fix arm that needed an upgrade badly.   
"Nice to see you back, sir." Emory Kai said to the gruff middle-aged man who walked into the repair shop.  
  
Sora took off his silver black trim trench coat with the missing left sleeve and shoulder pads and walked up to the work bench where Emory did most of the repair work. Sora sat down in the chair next to the work spot and watched Emory get out the various tools he would need to repair the beaten up robotic arm.  
  
"Would you like an upgrade from this form, Mr. Sora?" Emory asked.  
  
"Nothing fancy. Just fix it and get it over with." Sora's voice was that of strong warrior, no longer that of a boy. His clothing was that as well, a red and black breast plate with a collar that hid his face all the way to the eyes which had been given to him by Phil, loose black pants with assorted belts and pockets containing hi-potions and the like, boots from Cloud, a glove on his right hand with silver knuckles, brown and gray bangs that covered the left eye with one sticking up slightly out to the right, and a long braid that he had never bothered to cut but took good care of. An eagle's feather was in the strands of gray and dark brown hair.  
  
"Alright." Emory gave Sora the painkillers he would need and began the work, talking as he went.  
  
"Those navigation gummi parts you ordered came in today. I've taken the liberty of sorting them out for you already."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"I'm going to have to shut your arm down temporarily. You may feel some slight discomfort."  
  
Sora cringed as Emory shut down the appendage. Sora's mind distanced itself from the "surgery" as he thought about the navigation gummies he had already installed. He had lost count of the vast numbers he had ordered and installed on the Ragnarok. Frustration and anger were all that kept him fighting the Heartless that went to attack the worlds the Navigation gummies took him to. It was his job plain and simple to protect the worlds from the Heartless, but he felt it was more of a curse than an honor. It constantly delayed him from going home, but how could he go home when he couldn't find his way? Maybe the new gummies Emory had gotten in would help.  
  
"All done!" Emory said as he turned the arm's functions back on. "My computer couldn't repair your current software, so I updated your enemy detection software, automatic location device, shield/magic unit and clock."  
  
"How much will it cost?" Sora asked.  
  
"739 munnies."   
  
Sora walked to the register, paid and Emory handed him a box that was small but had to be carried with both hands to keep it balanced.  
  
"What's this?" Sora asked.  
  
"The navigation gummies. I doubt you want to leave them here."  
  
Sora began to leave but Emory spoke up once more.  
  
"Could you answer a question, sir?" Emory asked.  
  
Sora had his back to the young mechanic as he answered.  
  
"What is it?" Sora asked gruffly.  
  
"Where are you trying to go?"  
  
Sora didn't move nor answer for a few seconds.  
  
"Home." Sora finally said and left.  
He was on his way to the gummi port, carrying his burden and wondering if these were the ones to take him home. As he passed the buildings crammed together and the people walking on the sidewalk, he got many odd stares. It wasn't something unusual, and he had learned to ignore it after a while. He was intimidating in appearance. He felt it was a good thing for fighting. When he was a boy, he wasn't threatening at all, which annoyed him. So he didn't mind the perception of him being a dangerous man.   
  
But it did attract a lot of trouble. Like right then. Five Dark balls appeared in the streets, scaring nearly everyone away. Sora put down the box, took out his Ultima Weapon and the Dark balls immediately headed for him. He slashed through four of them and noticed the air next to the fifth Dark ball was somewhat fuzzy, like it was rippled. It was an Invisible, and it was getting to the box he had put on the ground. He got to the Invisible and killed it quickly. He had no clue whether it had done something to the gummis or not. The heartless were all dead and he quickly checked the box. Nothing had changed.  
The new gummies were installed. There had only been three, two of which he knew were copies of ones he already had. The remaining was new though. It was a different make, intriguing the Key bearer. He sat down in the pilot's seat and looked over the large map of all the worlds previously visited and trying to find where the new gummi would take him. He found the warp point closest and began the sequence.   
  
"Please let this be it." He said quietly to himself.  
  
He pushed the lever on the control board forward and was immediately en route to the portal. None of the gummi ships he encountered posed a challenge, which almost made him think this wasn't it. Then the portal came up. He steered the Ragnarok towards it quickly and immediately went in. It felt like he was being stretched as he went through, everything around him becoming bright. The ship began to quake and finally he got out of the portal and found himself outside the very world he was looking for. It looked different from all the others he had been to.  
  
"Is this it? Is my search really over."  
  
He couldn't have made the ship go any faster as he began to pull into the world titled "Destiny Islands."  
He had landed his ship on the beach where the raft once was. It was definitely his home. It hadn't changed at all, from what he remembered. But he had a bad feeling. Something wasn't right. This was a true world, right?  
  
"Hey mister, you lost?"   
  
Sora turned around in a startled motion, drawing his Ultima Weapon out of mere instinct. It was just Tidus. But it wasn't an older Tidus, just a kid, the one from when he last remembered.  
  
"Oh you want a fight? I'm ready!" Tidus drew out his red stick and got into stance.  
  
"Sorry, force of habit." Sora said as he sheathed his weapon. "Where is this?"  
  
"This is one of the Destiny Islands. My name is Tidus. Whoa, is that your ship?!" Tidus pointed up in awe of the impressive Ragnarok.  
  
"Yeah." Sora said with a disappointed tone.  
  
"Are you from another world?" Tidus asked excitedly.  
  
Sora didn't know whether to lie or not.  
  
"Yeah." Sora's gaze went down to the familiar looking sand.  
  
"Wow! I don't believe it! Kairi wasn't lying after all!"  
  
Tidus looked around excitedly while saying "I got tell everyone! C'mon, you gotta meet everyone."  
  
Tidus rushed off, Sora getting the hint to follow.  
  
"This can't be real." Sora said to himself. "I better look into this."  
  
Tidus led him around the beach shack towards where Wakka was sparring with Selphie. Sora was astonished to see how the island still looked the same, but of course, this was hard for him to understand. Was it he who was out of place, or the island? Questions later, he reasoned. He had to see what was going on.  
  
"Yo, Wakka, Selphie!" Tidus yelled.  
  
The two teens stopped their fight and looked at Tidus, but their attention immediately reverted from him to Sora. He wondered if they could tell it was him.  
  
"Who the heck is that?" Wakka said.  
  
Apparently, they couldn't.  
  
"It's not one of our parents. Tidus, who is it?" Selphie demanded.  
  
"He came from another world! Tell him, dude!" Tidus said expectantly looking up at Sora.  
  
"I…got lost and found this place. My name is…Cloud Strife." Sora lied.  
  
"Check out that weapon, he must be a warrior!" Wakka said pointing at the beautiful Ultima Weapon.  
  
"Hey, where's Kairi?" Tidus asked.  
  
"Oh, she's out there on the island, see?" Selphie said pointing out at the little island connected to the bigger one by the bridge. Sora remembered it from when he had dueled Riku and Tidus so many years ago. He could barely make-out the young girl looking out at the ocean away from them.  
  
"What's she doing out there?" Sora asked curiously.  
  
"Oh, she's waiting for Sora and Riku to come home. It's been like three weeks already since they went missing." Wakka said.  
  
"Missing?" Sora asked.  
  
"Yeah, Sora said he would find Riku then come home." Selphie said.  
  
Riku. He remembered Riku. He was never able to find his older rival and friend.   
  
"You wanna hear what happened before then?" Tidus asked.  
  
"…" Could he bear to listen to his own story?   
  
"Maybe…Kairi should tell you. She did experience it first hand." Selphie suggested.  
  
"Yeah, that's a good idea. You should go talk to her, Cloud." Wakka said.  
  
"Just hop up on the shack roof and you can take the bridge out to her." Tidus said.  
  
The three kids left him there. Sora knew too well how to get to that island. He ran to the shack, easily hopped up onto the roof and walked to the edge of the bridge. He put one foot on it. Then the other. He walked slowly across the old bridge and set foot on the island. Kairi turned around from hearing him step onto the island. She stepped back a bit in surprise. She shook her head as if denying something that had not been spoken.   
  
"Who are you?" Kairi asked.  
  
"I am Cloud Strife." The more Sora said it, the less he felt anyone believed it.   
  
"Are you…from another world?" Kairi asked timidly.  
  
Sora hesitated at first, but nodded.  
  
"How did you get here? I thought the worlds were blocked off from all the others."   
  
"They weren't."   
  
"Then, he could be anywhere."  
  
"Who?" He had a feeling he knew who, but he just had to ask.  
  
"My friend."  
  
"Who is this you speak of?" He knew it sounded more like a demand then he had wanted it to.   
  
Kairi looked like she was remembering something painful. "His name was Sora. He was the Keyblade master. Well, one of them. The other was King Mickey. Wait, what is that you have hidden?"  
  
He knew she was referring to the key blade he had strapped to his back.  
  
"It's nothing." He lied.  
  
"That's a key blade! Where did you get it?!" Kairi demanded.  
  
"I…got it from someone as a gift."  
  
"Was it a young boy with spiky brown hair?"  
  
"No. I'm sorry, it wasn't."  
  
Sora felt a pang at his heart when he saw the hurt look in Kairi's eyes. The eyes he missed for so many years.  
  
"Why do you miss this boy so much?" Sora asked. He felt he had a right to know.  
  
"I really don't think that's any of your business." Kairi replied.  
  
"I will tell you where I really got this key blade if you'll tell me about this Sora you miss and why."  
  
"Fine."  
  
Kairi began telling him the story from that first day on the island to the fight with Ansem and to the point that she last saw him, he had remembered everything she spoke of. She blushed slightly when she told him about how she went to the secret area and found where he had drawn him giving her the paopu fruit. He reddened under the collar that blocked his face. She asked him if he would like to see the secret area. He accepted and followed her across the bridge over the shack to the little grotto. Kairi easily got through, but Sora had a bit of trouble. Sora followed the young girl to the section of wall, passing many carvings, which now that he looked at them reminded him of the first world's he had been to.   
  
"This is the one." Kairi spoke up and interrupted the old man's thoughts.   
  
Kairi stepped back and allowed him to kneel down in front of the crude drawings. He held back the emotion surging in him. It had been so long. He allowed his fingers to glide over the familiar images. He noticed something new though. He traced the hand reaching from Kairi to his own image with the paopu fruit going to him. (Did…she add this?) He thought.  
  
"I added that when I got back. You're the only person who's seen this since that day." Kairi said hesitantly.   
  
He stayed there like that, his fingers on the drawing of Kairi's hand. He rose up slowly and turned to her. His eyes were holding back tears that continually fought to get out.   
  
"I-I had no idea…" Sora began.  
  
"That's why it's important for me to find him." Kairi said sadly.  
  
"…He…was important to you."  
  
She nodded slowly. Sora debated inwardly whether he should tell her who he really was. If she missed him this much after three weeks, just think about almost thirty years. He would break her heart. He had to do something to prevent that.   
  
"Now that I remember, I believe…I did run into this Sora once." Sora said.  
  
"Really?" Kairi looked hopeful.  
  
"Yeah. He asked me a favor. He told me to tell you not to wait for him, to just live your life and not continually wait for him. He said just to forget about him."  
  
"Why would he say that? He said he would come back."  
  
"He just wants you to be happy."  
  
"I know Sora, he wouldn't give up on me, so I won't give up on him."  
  
(Stubborn as always.) Sora thought.  
  
"He also asked me to give this back to you."   
  
Sora took out the Oathkeeper charm he had been given by his friend and held it out to her. It was taken care of, as if the years had never touched it. Kairi gasped softly. She hesitated to take it at first, but she obliged and looked it over. It was the same charm she had given the key bearer alright.   
  
"Why would he do this?" Kairi had a light hint of a sob in her voice. "He told me never to forget. Never!"  
  
"What if he never comes back?" Sora asked in a demanding tone.  
  
"I'm never going to give up on him. I promised I wouldn't."  
  
"Even if he might never come back for nearly thirty years?"  
  
"I'm prepared to wait."  
  
Sora looked away from he young girl, feeling terrible about this. She had so much hope in him.   
  
"Could you do me a favor?" Kairi asked.  
  
"Anything." Sora said.  
  
"Wait here, I have to go get something."  
  
Kairi ran off and left him to look around the cavern. He asked himself if he had done the right thing, telling her to forget about him, to not wait for him. He sat down on the cold ground and hugged his knees to his chest. He felt so clueless. She loved him, well kind of loved him. And he was forcing her to wait for him. He felt so cold-hearted. And powerless to do anything about it. He wondered whether he should tell her it was him, that he had kept the promise. But how would she react? He was an old man, she was a young girl, could she understand what had happened? Or would she care? He took out the Key blade and looked at his reflection in the weapon's shiny exterior. He was battle worn, dirty, and tired. His blue eyes were all he could recognize of his childhood self. Had it been so long?   
  
He undid the collar that masked his face and looked at the once youthful but now aged Key blade master. He moved the bangs that masked his face. He had a large scar extended from the middle of his forehead to just below his hardened cheekbone with two smaller ones on either side of it. He was considered a handsome man when he was twenty, and was still so, but hardened and battle worn. He needed to shave soon. He heard light footsteps coming into the cave. He immediately put the collar back in its rightful position and stood up. It was Kairi. She had an envelope. She approached the warrior gingerly and held out the envelope.  
  
"If you see him again, give him this." She said with a determined look on her beautiful face.   
  
He took it and nodded. He felt he should leave the place he knew as home. He did not see any reason to stay. This was not the right place for him. He and Kairi got out of the hidden place and he began to head for the beach where he had landed the Ragnarok. But he stopped and turned to her.  
  
"Yes?" Kairi asked.  
  
"Sora misses you too, Kairi." Sora said and left her with that.  
"Are you leaving already, Mr. Strife?" Tidus asked him as he was headed to the beach.  
  
"Yeah. I'm not one to stay in a place too long. Not until I get home." Sora said.  
  
"Alright. Bye Cloud!" Tidus said cheerfully.  
  
"Bye Tidus."  
Sora was in the pilot's seat of the Ragnarok now. He was about to take off, but the four children had followed him and waved up at him from the beach below. He waved down at them and put the ship on course to Ganymede 8. It was a long way from his current point, and he had put the ship on warp-drive to give himself time to read the letter.  
As the magnificent ship left, Kairi remembered that look Cloud had given her when he said Sora missed her. Something was familiar about that look. The way his blue eyes seemed to long for her. Those eyes. They were Sora's eyes. Tidus, Wakka and Selphie had left her there at that beach. Kairi didn't understand why, but she had a feeling that that was Sora who had visited them.  
  
"Come back soon, Sora."  
"'Come back soon Sora. I miss you.'" Sora read aloud.   
  
"'I know what you're doing is important, many people depend on you. I hope though that we'll see each other soon. I don't wish you to ignore your responsibilities, but remember me, okay? Remember me as I remember you. When I think about it, we're not too far apart. Physical distance can never separate people who care for one another. All I have to do is think about you, and that makes me happy.   
  
"'I'm not going to forget you, or give up on you. So keep my charm safe, okay? And say hi to Riku for me. Love Kairi.'"  
  
Sora looked at the star shaped Oathkeeper key chain that had been included with the letter.  
  
(That's it. I'm going to make sure I come back.) Sora thought. (I don't know how, but I will.) 


	2. Chapter 2: Hook, Line, and Sinker

The Promise  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"Seems he took the bait, mistress Maleficent." A shadow heartless said to a figure cloaked   
  
in a new degree of darkness. It was the deep chamber of Crimson Castle, named that for the   
  
crimson light that it was surrounded by thanks to the energy given off by the numerous   
  
Heartless floating about. It's appearance gave the mortal observer instant chills down his   
  
or her spine and at the same time curiosity of how such a beautiful castle could be so   
  
ominous and demented. It had the look of a Celtic manor, but with Gothic architecture aged   
  
by many more centuries then one could or would want to count. It was surrounded by a moat   
  
filled to the brim with water that had Sea Neon, Search Ghosts, Screwdivers and a large   
  
Shark like Heartless that could eat three full-grown men in one bite.  
  
Maleficent stepped out of the darkness towards the shadow that was near the light they had   
  
watched Sora in.  
  
"My my, how easily the strong are fooled. I guess the key blade master is becoming senile."   
  
Maleficent said. She looked as if she hadn't aged at all since the battle between her and   
  
Sora. Her long green skinned fingers wrapped around her scepter and gripped it so hard her   
  
knuckles whitened. Her other hand extended to the light and she touched it with her pointer   
  
finger, making the image of Sora shatter.  
  
"Sora, it's been a long time. And now we'll finish what we started all those years ago. And   
  
this time…" She paused and approached the shadowy corridor which she came from. She held her   
  
free hand out to the darkness and it absorbed into her quickly.  
  
"I will not be so easily subdued." Her eyes flashed a deep red as she cackled wildly.  
  
"Time travel?!" Exclaimed an elderly man at the gummi retail store.   
  
Sora had landed on Ganymede 8 and started asking around about time travel possibilities.  
  
"Yes, I want to know if time travel is possible with gummi parts." Sora said calmly.  
  
"Well it's not, so stop asking and leave decent folks to their business."  
  
Sora rolled his eyes and left the grumbling old man.   
  
"Geez, it's not like I haven't helped these people before, but whenever I need help I'm   
  
always on my own. Typical." Sora said to himself as he kicked a lone can dropped by some   
  
careless citizen.  
  
"I believe I can help you, boy." A beggar on the side of the street said.  
  
Sora looked towards the speaker.  
  
"Wha-….How?" Sora asked.  
  
"Ah, you have seen many a battle I presume." the beggar gestured to Sora's mechanical left   
  
arm.  
  
Sora covered his left arm as if he were ashamed of it.  
  
"What of it, old one?" Sora asked.  
  
"Just making small conversation. Now about your problem. There is a castle in another world,  
  
pretty close to here, and in that castle is a woman who may be able to help you with your   
  
problem."  
  
Of all the years of Sora's wandering and all the stories he had heard, he had never heard of   
  
Crimson Castle, or any woman there that could help people. So he had to ask.  
  
"Who is it?" Sora asked the old beggar.  
  
"She is known far and wide as Maleficent the good witch." The beggar replied with confidence.  
  
(Is he for real?) Sora thought as he allowed the beggar's information to sink in.  
  
"Maleficent is dead though, isn't she?" Sora asked, obvious doubt in his mind.  
  
"Ah, that is what most are meant to think." The beggar began. "But she is indeed alive and   
  
well."  
  
Sora wanted to swear.  
  
"Great…Are you sure she's a good witch? When I was young, she was…how can I put this….evil."   
  
Sora said to the beggar.  
  
"Indeed! But she reformed her ways. I would never lie about such a thing!" The beggar said   
  
defensively.  
  
Sora doubted the validity of the beggar's claim, but this was his best lead so far.  
  
"So how would one find this good witch? Is she still in Hollow Bastion?" Sora asked,  
  
referring to the castle reference the beggar had given him.  
  
"Oh indeed not! She is in the great monastery known as Crimson Castle." The beggar said as   
  
he stroked his long dirty white beard.  
  
"Uh, and how would one get there?"  
  
"Why, by gummi ship of course! And this navigation gummi will take you right there!" The   
  
beggar exclaimed this as he held out a navigational gummi to the keybearer.  
  
Sora at first hesitated to even touch the gummi, but he reached for it and took it in his   
  
hand. He looked it over closely, doubt still in his mind.  
  
"I speak only the truth, young one, you can not doubt my words." The beggar said and flashed   
  
a toothless grin to Sora.  
  
Sora cringed inwardly at the sight of the beggar's gingivitis infected gums, but responded   
  
with an uneasy smile and began to hand the gummi back, but the beggar pushed it back to him.  
  
"You are a troubled young man, but take your ship to where this gummi leads you and all your   
  
dreams will come true." the beggar said.  
  
Sora still wasn't sure about the whole thing. Especially after that last line. But if this   
  
truly was a hoax, it was his own responsibility to settle the affair and make sure no one   
  
would get hurt.  
  
"Alright, old one, I'll do as you say." Sora said and turned around, his long coat swishing   
  
in the air as it was rapidly turned and trailing behind the middle-aged hero's steps.  
  
When Sora was out of sight, the old man chuckled a bit and ripped off his long beard,   
  
revealing a black well cared for curled one. He stood up to a straight, perfect posture and   
  
swished his hands a bit, a copper cobra staff appearing in his bony hand.  
  
"Perfect…." His voice changed from an old man's to that of an evil man Sora had face long ago.   
  
It was Jafar!  
  
"All my dreams come true…puh." Sora said in a gruff tone as he sat down in the pilot's seat   
  
of the gummi ship.  
  
He had installed the gummi already and was preparing the engines. Something inside him,   
  
childish hope he supposed, was eager to get to Crimson Castle and go back to Kairi if this   
  
was true, that Maleficent could help him.  
  
But not a lot had worked out for the now 42 year old warrior. At one time he had had no   
  
doubt he would get home and get to be with Kairi on the Destiny Islands. But as the years   
  
had passed and age had come onto him, the dream just became that, a dream, nothing more. He   
  
imagined Kairi, waiting hopelessly there for him, and one day realizing he would never come   
  
back and die of a broken heart.  
  
He got rid of the thought quickly. There was no way in hell he would allow that to happen.  
  
He watched as the coordinates lit up on the screen, showing where he currently was, Ganymede   
  
8, and where he was going, a world titled Crimson Castle.  
  
"I guess this is it." Sora said quietly.  
  
(I'm coming, Kairi, just wait for me, okay?)  
  
"Kairi, c'mon, the party's about to start!" Selphie said eagerly as she skipped over to the   
  
shore where Kairi stood, watching the sky.  
  
Both girls were older now, Selphie, 17 now, still had about the same style hair and clothing,   
  
but had matured quite a bit in appearance, but was only 5'1. Kairi, 18 now, was about 4   
  
inches taller then Selphie, and she had grown her hair out long to about halfway down her   
  
back. She too still wore similar clothes to what she had when she was 14, but a little more   
  
reserved.  
  
"I'll be there in a minute, Selphie." Kairi said, looking to her friend who was walking   
  
towards her.  
  
Selphie, obviously a bit annoyed, was used to the pattern of Kairi's attitude. But she felt   
  
it was her responsibility to snap her friend back to reality, or what she thought was reality.  
  
"Kairi, I know you love him, but you have to let him go." Selphie said while putting a hand   
  
on her friend's shoulder. "It's been 4 years already."  
  
Kairi didn't speak.  
  
"Kairi…Tidus, Wakka and I are worried about you. None of us want you to get hurt." Selphie   
  
said in a concerned tone.  
  
"I'm just keeping a promise I made." Kairi said quietly.  
  
"Promise you'll come in a few minutes, Kairi. We want you to have fun for once, that's all."   
  
Selphie said.  
  
"I just need a few minutes. I'll come." Kairi said.  
  
"Great! I'll go tell Tidus and Wakka."   
  
Kairi watched Selphie run off eagerly. She turned her gaze back to the stars.  
  
"Come back soon, Sora…" She said. "I miss you…"  
  
A tropical breeze came by as she said this, blowing caressing warm wind around the girl. She   
  
wrapped her arms around her bare arms and closed her eyes as she enjoyed the breeze.  
  
Sora stood outside the gate of Crimson Castle, Keyblade in hand and his promise still on his  
  
mind.  
  
"Okay. Now where's the door bell." Sora asked aloud to no one in particular. He found what  
  
looked like a gong and a withered percussion mallet near the cobwebbed, rusted and otherwise   
  
creepy looking gate. He began to pick the mallet up, but it disintegrated into a pile of rotted   
  
wood and termite maggots. He sighed in annoyance and raised his left mechanical arm.   
  
He hit the gong with his fist hard.  
  
The sound of the gong echoed through out the area, forcing Sora to cover his ears in pain.  
  
The gates began to open right then, creaking and squeaking as they slowly went. Sora gritted   
  
his teeth from the sound, but bared through it.  
  
"This had better be it." Sora said coldly.  
  
He marched towards the menacing castle. Sora prided himself in not being scared easily. With   
  
his gruff attitude and age, he had also grown a spine that would make Rambo jealous and a   
  
recklessness that could make a bull cringe.  
  
As he approached the door, he noticed numerous heartless floating around it. And the weird   
  
thing was, they didn't seem to notice him, or if they did they didn't care much.  
  
He reached the moat which divided the castle from the path he was currently on. The gate/  
  
bridge was lowered with a quick rush, forcing Sora to jump back for fear of losing his toes.  
  
He looked up at the watchmen in the tower overlooking his position. Sora gave the heartless   
  
watchmen a look that could've made pain peel and walked in. From the moat, the shark   
  
heartless in it watched his movements, finally snapping at him when he dared get closer to   
  
the edge. Sora jumped back out of surprise, but paid the shark no more mind after that. He   
  
entered the castle. The castle's inside was completely different from it's outside.  
  
Sora almost wondered if he had stepped into the same building as he looked up at the ceiling   
  
at the crystalline chandelier, the ceiling painted with various scenes of some knight doing   
  
various noble deeds going across the vast length of the ceiling. The paintings ranged from   
  
what looked like the knight defeating what looked like gothic heartless to rescuing a   
  
princess, defeating a dragon and finally what looked like a wedding scene between the knight   
  
and princess.  
  
The paintings looked as if they were painted long ago, but recently restored. Sora looked to  
  
the walls where paintings of other knights in various noble positions hung. The knights were  
  
different from each one you looked to, but each was connected to the other somehow. Sora   
  
continued forward, still looking at the paintings. Near the end of the hallway, there was a   
  
vacant spot where it looked like a painting was to be hung soon.  
  
"Admiring my paintings, Sora?" Maleficent's voice roused Sora from his trance.  
  
Sora looked towards the circling stair case that was in the direction he had been walking.   
  
About halfway down it stood Maleficent, holding her sceptor and looking sinister as Sora   
  
had ever seen her.  
  
"Maleficent!" Sora said and immediately got his key blade ready.  
  
"Relax, keybearer, I mean you no harm." Maleficent's voice echoed throughout the hall. "It   
  
has been many years since we last saw each other."  
  
"Not long enough." Sora muttered.  
  
"Is there something you want? Put away your weapon if there is." Maleficent said calmly.  
  
Sora clenched his teeth in inward anger, but put away his key blade.  
  
"Word is you're some good witch or something like that." Sora said with obvious disgust in   
  
his tone.  
  
"Yes…I have changed my ways since your defeat over me." Maleficent said. "I realized my   
  
magic would benefit many people if properly used."  
  
"Right….So after a humiliating defeat you realized being bad was stupid, right?" Sora asked   
  
sarcastically.  
  
"That attitude is not going to get whatever you came for accomplished."  
  
"Can you help me or not?" Sora demanded.  
  
"Temper temper…" Maleficent said as she stepped down the stairs and walked towards Sora. She   
  
stopped close to in front of him and raised her green, bony hand around his protective   
  
collar to touch Sora's face. "You've grown quite handsome over these past 28 years."  
  
Sora lurched his head bag as well as his body. A smirk came over Maleficent's face as she   
  
spoke.  
  
"What is it you wanted?" Maleficent asked.  
  
"I want to travel back in time." Sora said.  
  
"Ah…any particular reasons?" Maleficent asked.  
  
"It's none of your business."  
  
"You should trust me a little more then that if you want help."  
  
Sora balled his fists and began explaining to her his reason, not including too many details,  
  
but enough to be a valid reason.  
  
"So you want to find your past self to get him back home to your, or his girlfriend." The   
  
witch said with a near laugh.  
  
"Can you help me or not?" Sora demanded.  
  
"I can…follow me." Maleficent began towards the stairs she had previously been on. Sora   
  
stayed where he was.  
  
"Are you coming or not?" The witch asked from the beginning of the stairs.  
  
Against his better instincts Sora nodded and followed Maleficent up the creaking stairs. The   
  
walls had tapestries of foreign make, Sora guessed, and they seemed to depict the worst   
  
scenes from old fairy tales he had heard as a boy. One in particular grabbed his attention.   
  
It was of a princess, it looked almost like Aurora, one of the princesses he had helped   
  
rescue, and she was laying flat on a bed, a flower in her lifeless hands, and a large black   
  
dragon standing menacingly over her.  
  
He withdrew his attention from the image and continued following the witch.  
  
"These stairs are awfully long." Sora commented after it had been 20 minutes.  
  
"We must get to the proper room for me to be able to send you back in time, keybearer, so   
  
patience would be preferred over your constant complaining." Maleficent said to the annoyed   
  
warrior.  
  
"This had best not be a trick, woman." Sora replied, his ire aroused by the witch's shot.  
  
"You'll not be disappointed. Trust me." Maleficent continued up the stairs and Sora stopped.  
  
(Yeah, I'll trust you. I'll trust you about as much I'll trust a snake with a chicken.) Sora   
  
thought bitterly as he continued up the stairs, continuing his train of thought. (Does that   
  
make me the chicken?)  
  
His better instincts, if he had chosen to follow them, said to leave immediately, in fact,   
  
probably to not have even come to the world in the first place. Yet his heart, the heart   
  
that had stayed in near perfect condition from his boyhood held hope that maybe Maleficent   
  
could help him.  
  
The stairs ended finally and when the two had entered the door to the room Maleficent had   
  
led him to, Sora found himself in the largest room he had ever been in. The ceiling had to   
  
be ninety, no a hundred feet high, and the floor expanded well over twice the ceiling's   
  
height. And the width had to be 60 feet at least.  
  
The room was well lit, amazing Sora greatly. The ceiling looked as if it had been coated in   
  
the purest gold color, cherubs and angels flying across, and the chandeliers seemed to have   
  
been made of diamonds that shown the most beautiful light. The walls were covered in fine   
  
silk cloth tapestries and enough mirrors to confuse one if he attempted to look at each. The  
  
floor was a varnished wood that seemed to have never been scuffed or walked on.  
  
"What kind of room is this?" Sora asked as he looked around the well taken care of room.  
  
"It's the only room large enough for me to be able to send you back." Maleficent said.  
  
She stepped towards the middle of the room, her heels clicking and echoing throughout the   
  
room. She turned and gestured for Sora to follow. He complied.  
  
"Now, is there a point in time you wish to go back to?" Maleficent asked.  
  
Sora nodded and began to say it, but Maleficent silenced him with a gesture.  
  
"Just place it in your mind and I will read it from there." She said.  
  
Sora nodded and closed his eyes, picturing the moment he, Goofy, and Donald had left Kairi   
  
there on Destiny Islands. He pictured when their hands had lost their hold on the other's.   
  
Maleficent had her hands raised around Sora's head, reading the thought through her fingers,  
  
a sickening grin on her face.   
  
Sora's mind began screaming for him to leave. But something seemed to paralyze him to the   
  
spot he was standing in. All his instincts yelled at him to leave or attempt to at least.   
  
But Sora's thirst to go home just had to be quenched.  
  
(What the devil is the matter with me?) Sora thought (I'll be going home soon. Why can't my   
  
heart accept that?)  
  
"Ah, perfect. I can see it clearly. You may open your eyes now." Maleficent said.  
  
Sora opened his eyes and noticed the room looked much shabbier then it had earlier. He then   
  
noticed Maleficent still had her hand's around his head.  
  
"You fool." Maleficent began as her eyes rolled back in her head.  
  
"What's the meaning of this?" Sora demanded, but quickly a surge of magic was sent from the   
  
witch's fingers into his skull, quickly knocking him out.  
  
He fell to the rotted wood floor at the witch's feet. Maleficent formed a self-satisfied   
  
smirk on her face as she looked the fallen warrior over.  
  
"Is he unconscious?" echoed a voice through the room.  
  
"Yes master. Just as you said, he wanted to go back to that point." Maleficent replied to   
  
the omniscient voice.  
  
"Good. Too bad he'll miss that point by a few years…." The voice chuckled.  
  
"To the point in which you were at your highest peak in power, am I correct, my lord?"  
  
"Yes. One decade, eight years, and ten months ago…."  
  
Maleficent then raised her arms to the ceiling and a storm cloud began to appear above her,   
  
crackling with thunder and lightning.  
  
Sora in his unconsciousness dreamt. He found himself in a world in vast disrepair, debris   
  
everywhere and little or no life to be seen or sensed anywhere. The sand under his feet had   
  
been long dried from death. It had once been teeming with life. Once laughter and the   
  
chirping of healthy birds could be heard in the air. Utter silence was all Sora could hear.   
  
The sky was once a vibrant light blue with just enough clouds to make for a perfect day of   
  
seeing what you could find in the sky. Now the sky was a dead gray color, the clouds, if   
  
they were there were unnoticeable against the pasty sky. Sora looked to what used to be a   
  
shore he guessed, but the water was long dried and gone. Sora knew where he was, but this   
  
couldn't be it. This couldn't be the Destiny Islands he knew. Everything was dead.  
  
"How could you, Sora?" said an echoing familiar voice.  
  
Sora turned around and saw behind him a phantom he guessed. He reached for his Ultima Weapon,  
  
but he found it long gone, and in it's place the kingdom key.  
  
"What is this? What happened to my weapon?" He asked in disbelief.  
  
"You lost it, Sora…"said the phantom as it began to take on the shape of a 14 year old girl.  
  
"Wait a minute….Kairi?" Sora asked.  
  
"Why did you let Maleficent trick you?" She began to disappear.  
  
"Wait!" Sora reached out to her, but her image shattered. He kept his hand where it was,   
  
still reaching for something he could not grasp.  
  
"No…" Was all he could say.  
  
Back in the real world.…  
  
"I can't believe he was so trusting of you." the voice said to Maleficent as she created the   
  
time/space portal. "But I do give you praise for your time gummi you planted in the shipment   
  
he ordered."  
  
A cloaked figure appeared behind Maleficent.  
  
"All one needs to attract flies is a drop of honey, the flyswatter takes care of the rest."   
  
Maleficent said.  
  
The cloaked figure laughed with the same voice Maleficent had been conversing with.  
  
"Excellent wording." He said.  
  
"So all you need from him is his ultima weapon, correct?" Maleficent asked, turning her head  
  
to look at her master.  
  
"Yes. He won't last long against his own weapon. Remember to open a portal to this castle in   
  
the same time frame so this will be delivered." The cloaked figure held up the ultima key   
  
chain.  
  
"Of course, my lord." Maleficent replied.  
  
The portals were completed. The cloaked figure raised his left arm, Sora's body levitating   
  
along with it. Sora's body was then flung into the space/time portal Maleficent had created   
  
to send him 18 years in the past.  
  
Then the cloaked figure tossed the ultima key chain into the smaller portal next to the   
  
space/time one, sending it back the same amount of years, but to the current world.  
  
"Get ready, aged warrior." The cloaked figure said. "Our prolonged battle shall thus   
  
commence."  
  
End of Chapter 2 


	3. Chapter 3: The Bomb Drops

The Promise  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Chapter 3.0  
  
Sora felt terrible. Physically terrible. His body was in pain, his head hurt, and it felt like a part of his heart had just shattered.  
  
He was lying down in a field of wild flowers and grass as far as the eye could see. He didn't know whether he could get up, nor did his body want to try at the moment.  
  
He groaned in pain as he turned his body over. He noticed his collar missing. Just perfect…  
  
"Where am I?" He asked quietly as he looked up at the clear blue sky.  
  
He laid his arms out straight from his body and just stayed there in the grass, allowing his body to rest.  
  
"Hey, are you okay?" asked a tender voice from his right.  
  
He looked in that direction and saw a woman wearing a light blue sundress and straw hat and carrying a basket of freshly picked flowers. She had slightly long black hair and a kind disposition.  
  
Sora sat up and propped himself up on his arms as he looked towards the woman. She approached him and gave him a sweet sincere smile as she kneeled down next to him.  
  
"Who are you?" Sora managed, feeling a bit awkward in the presence of the woman. She had to be at least 12 years his junior if not more.  
  
"My name is Rinoa Leonhart." She said with what had to be the gentlest voice Sora had ever heard. She reminded him of Kairi.   
  
"And what would your name be?" She asked, getting Sora out of his train of thought.  
  
"Sora." He said sheepishly.  
  
"Well, Sora, do you have a reason for being out in the middle of nowhere or do you need some help?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"I could use a hand I suppose." Sora said easily.  
  
"Alright. Come on." Rinoa stood up straight and Sora did the same.  
  
"Where do you live?" Sora asked as he looked around the seemingly endless field.  
  
"Just over there." Rinoa pointed to a house far off in the distance.  
  
Sora looked in the direction she pointed, and then after a second looked back at the woman, noticing she was looking at him.  
  
"What is it?" He asked nervously.  
  
"You don't look like you're from this world." Rinoa said. "Are you from somewhere else?"  
  
"Umm, yes, I am actually." He replied, a wall of defense rising up inside of him.  
  
"I knew it. Squall was telling the truth after all."  
  
"Squall?" Sora asked in a confused tone.  
  
(Where have I heard that name before.)  
  
"He's my husband. He's at the house right now with some of our other boarders."  
  
"Boarders?"  
  
"Well that house is too big for him and I. We rent out the rooms to people from different worlds who need a home. We don't have too many right now, but when summer comes we will. Shall we go?"  
  
Sora nodded and followed Rinoa towards her house in the distance. As they approached, he saw that the house, three stories high and a light yellow color, was next to the shore of a beach, the sand beginning where the grass ended.  
  
"This place is beautiful." Sora said as they were stepping onto the porch of the three-story boarding house.  
  
"Everyone says that when they first see it." Rinoa said, happy at Sora's praise.  
  
"I can see why." Sora said as he looked at her, then blushed and turned his gaze away.  
  
"Remember, Sora, I'm married." Rinoa replied.  
  
(You're old enough to be her father you doofus. C'mon!) Sora's conscience yelled at him.   
  
"I'm home." Rinoa called into the house.  
  
Sora looked around the room. It looked like a standard kitchen, but with a large table with many places.  
  
"Who the heck is he?" came a burly voice that took Sora's attention away from the room. The source of the voice was a large, tall, barrel chested African American man with a crew cut and a gun arm. Sora had always thought he looked tough, but this guy could beat him easy.  
  
"Barret, be nice. This is Sora. Sora, this is Barret Wallace. I found him out in the flower fields and invited him back." Rinoa said with a smile to the scary looking man.  
  
"Cain't he talk for himself?" Barret demanded.  
  
Barret stomp/walked towards Sora and looked him over, standing a menacing two inches over the key bearer with extra muscle and a gun arm to boot against his own piece of junk wreck of an arm.  
  
"You s'posed to be some tough guy?" Barret asked Sora to his face.  
  
"I try to look strong." Sora replied.  
  
Sora had never taken disliking to too many people, but this guy just rubbed him the wrong way.  
  
"Hmph. Whateva. Rinoa, you seen Marlene?" Barret asked Rinoa with a slightly more polite tone then he had used with Sora.  
  
"I think she said she was going to play on the beach." Rinoa replied as she brought out a glass vase from a cabinet shelf and set it down.  
  
"A'ight." With that Barret sat down at the table with his arms crossed.  
  
Sora couldn't help staring at Barret's gun arm.  
  
(Maybe I should get one of those…) Sora thought.  
  
The door then opened behind him. He turned around to see a 14 year old girl with short blue hair standing there wearing a dark green bikini and with a towel wrapped around her waist.  
  
"I'm back." She said as she closed the door.  
  
As she took a step forward she noticed Sora and immediately turned beet red.  
  
"Marlene, you're back early." Rinoa said to get the girl's attention. Rinoa was bringing out plates and glasses for dinner.  
  
"I saw a storm coming." Marlene said shakily as she walked over to Rinoa to help her bring out some dishes.  
  
Sora scratched the back of his head nervously and began to sit down at the table, but Barret gave him a look that plainly told him he better not.  
  
"Sora, sit down and relax. It's alright." Rinoa said. "Oh Marlene, this is Sora. Sora this is Marlene Wallace, Barret's daughter. You'll find she's a lot nicer then her father's been." Rinoa gave Barret a displeased look when she said this. Sora sat down in a chair reasonably far from where Barret sat.  
  
"Marlene, go upstairs and change." Barret said in an obviously agitated tone.  
  
"Yes daddy." Marlene said obediently.  
  
Barret watched her leave and gave Sora another dirty look as if he was implying something.  
  
"So, uh Rinoa, how long have you owned this place?" Sora asked as he tried to avoid Barret's stink-eye.  
  
"When my mother died and my father retired from the military, he bought this place because my mother loved the ocean. He died as well a few years ago and I've ran it ever since. I met my husband around the time my father retired." Rinoa said cheerfully.  
  
"Oh. What about you Barret, what do you do?" Sora asked, trying to be polite to the scary man.  
  
Barret narrowed his eyes towards Sora.  
  
"I used to lead a team of people who were devoted to protecting the weak from heartless." Barret's tone gave the impression of someone who wasn't trying to impress anyone, just to inform, nothing more. "I lost my arm in a battle against a heartless about 12 years ago and retired. That was when I adopted Marlene."  
  
"Oh. I know how you feel." Sora said as he looked at his own mechanical arm. It sparked a little, sending a surge of slight pain through his arm.  
  
"You need to fix that. I'm sure Cid can do it for you. He'll be coming in a few days. Or Barret, you can help him." Rinoa said.  
  
"I'm not gonna help some weirdo who all of a sudden comes out of no where. We don't even know anything about him." Barret said angrily and slammed his fist on the table.  
  
"I'm glad we reinforced this table." Rinoa said in an annoyed tone, getting a laugh out of Sora.   
  
"What are you yelling about now, Barret?" said a young man standing in the doorway connecting the kitchen to the living room. He was wearing a blue shirt over a red t-shirt and a pair of long denim shorts. His hair was semi-long except for his bangs and part of the rest of his hair was gelled and looked like he had smoothed his hand back and halfway forth on it. His left cheek had a tattoo that started halfway on his sideburn at a point and extended in three jagged points, the top point stopping about halfway across his eyebrow and jutted out another point that stopped near his scalp line. The second point extended to under his eye and the third jutted downward to just above his jaw line. Sora assumed he was no more then 20 at least.  
  
"Zell, butt-out." Barret said in an angry tone.  
  
"Hey, who's the new guy?" Zell asked as he made his way to the fridge and opened the door.  
  
"Zell, this is Sora. Sora this is Zell Dincht, he's also a boarder here." Rinoa said as she set out a plate in front of each chair of the large table.  
  
"S'up?" Zell said as he brought out a soda and opened it, spurts of it fizzing out. He walked over to Sora, wiped his right hand on his pants and held it out. Sora took it wearily and shook it.  
  
"Whoa, what's with the hardware?" Zell asked, referring to Sora's arm.  
  
Sora hid his arm behind his back.  
  
"Oh…sorry 'bout that." Zell said in a sheepish manner.  
  
"It's alright." Sora replied, not really meaning it, but it was the normal response to that reaction to his arm.  
  
The front door then creaked open and footsteps resounded through the house.  
  
"Squall's home. And I'll bet he didn't wipe his feet off." Rinoa said, not taking her eyes from her work.  
  
Sora looked over to where the steps were coming from. He gasped in surprise when he saw who Squall was.  
  
(Leon…) Sora thought, the realization striking him hard.   
  
(But he doesn't look as old as he should. He kept his age pretty well.)  
  
"A storm's coming, everyone. No one go outside." Leon or Squall said as he entered the kitchen.  
  
"Marlene told us already." Rinoa replied.  
  
"Oh. Well then I have nothing else to say." Squall said as he then saw Sora.  
  
"Who's he?" He asked Rinoa.  
  
Before Rinoa could tell Squall, Sora spoke up.  
  
"Leon? Is that really you?" Sora asked.  
  
"I was called that once. How do you know that?" Squall asked, his eyes narrowed at the key bearer.  
  
"It's me…Sora." Sora said, feeling a bit nervous.  
  
Squall's eyes widened in shock.  
  
"Sora?" Squall asked in disbelief.  
  
Everyone else just looked at the two, before Barret spoke up.  
  
"You two know each other?" The burly man asked.  
  
Squall looked to Barret then back at Sora.  
  
"I knew a Sora from ten years ago. But he was a boy then. He'd be at least 24 by now. You look too old to be the Sora I knew." Squall said in near anger.  
  
Sora began to say something but the realization then hit him.  
  
(Maleficent! She sent me back in time!!) The thought screamed through his head.  
  
"Squall, how long ago did the boy known as Sora who had the key blade seal the worlds?" Sora asked with a serious tone.  
  
"Ten years ago. Why?" Squall asked.  
  
"This is gonna be hard to explain…but I'm telling the absolute truth." Sora began.  
  
"Spit it out already then." Barret demanded.  
  
Sora swallowed and looked around the room.  
  
"I'm that Sora you knew ten years ago." Sora said and stopped Squall before he was about to say something. "I look a lot older because I'm from the future. Maleficent, she tricked me and sent me back in time…let's see….18 or 19 years! Oh my god…uh…I swear I am telling the truth. I don't know what happened, but she knocked me out and then sent me back in time to this place."  
  
Sora stopped and looked around to everyone. Everyone in turn, blinked in near disbelief. Finally Zell placed his index finger to the side of his head and began turning it in a circle facing the point on his head where it pointed.  
  
"Cuckoo Cuckoo!" he said and crossed his eyes to add to the effect. Rinoa, with a stern look, slapped him on the arm before Barret could.  
  
"You believe me, don't you?" Sora asked, facing Squall.  
  
Squall, a doubtful look still on his face, looked to the others. He looked back at the key bearer, the same frown still on his face.  
  
"I can't believe I'm saying this…" Squall began, his tone as if he were making the wrong decision. "But I do believe you."  
  
"It's been ten years since you sealed Hollow Bastion." Squall said to Sora as the two talked in private in the parlor. Sora sat in a chair looking out on the fields through the large window which Squall trotted over to. The gunblader leaned against the wall next to the window and continued. "It's a bit unnerving to see you so old when your so young in this time."  
  
"It's a bit unnerving to be sent 18 years from my time. It should be 18 anyways, if I did the math correctly that is…" Sora looked to the wood floor. It was well taken care of.  
  
"I just don't see how Maleficent could possibly be able to send you back in time. I can't make any sense of it." Squall said contemplatively.  
  
"Whatever she did, she must've sent me here for some reason. There must be some event she wants to be altered. Have you seen the old bag?" Sora asked curiously.  
  
"To be honest, I don't think you dealt with the real Maleficent. You killed her ten years ago, or 28 years from your time, so I do not think she lived. But here's a possibility."  
  
"Say it." Sora said flatly.  
  
"I'm thinking she was resurrected." Squall said with a dark tone to his voice.  
  
"What with a phoenix down?"  
  
"No, it can't be that simple…Possibly she could have been resurrected through some dark magic, something to do with this Crimson Castle you told me about."  
  
"I have to find Crimson Castle in this time." Sora said firmly and stood up.  
  
"Hold on. You might be setting yourself up by going there." Squall stood up from his leaning posture and continued. "Maleficent sent you back to this time for a reason. She's obviously prepared for if you come. Practice a bit of caution."  
  
"She took my Ultima Weapon. My Oblivion Keychain isn't with me either. My only good weapon is this thing." Sora raised his bulky mechanical arm. "And as you can see it's in need of a few adjustments."  
  
"Maybe I can help you." Barret's burly tone came from the door behind the two warriors.  
  
Sora turned to face the barrel chested man and waited as he spoke.  
  
"I remember when I lost this arm in battle." Barret said as he looked down at his gun arm. "I felt weak without my arm, so I figgered out a way to become strong again. I can build you a way better arm then that one you got now. But I need money, and parts."  
  
"Cid will be coming in a few days. He'll sell the parts you need to improve your arm." Squall said.  
  
"Uh…thanks." Sora said to both of the men.  
  
(Maybe Barret isn't such a bad guy after all.) Sora thought.  
  
The thunder of the oncoming storm echoed through the boarding house, nearly shaking the place. Sora watched from the family room where he was laid up on the couch. Rinoa had offered him one of the empty rooms, but he had wanted to be in a place where he could get up and out quickly the next morning.   
  
He had his boots and armor on the floor at the foot of the couch, along with his cape and other essentials which would've poked and prodded him all night, leaving him bare chested, exposing many of his scars.  
  
As he watched the storm, he noticed the light from down the hall in Zell's room went out, followed by a loud fall and a swearing Zell. Everyone else seemed to be asleep. Sora chuckled softly and allowed his head to sink into the plush pillow. This was way better then he was used to.  
  
He closed his eyes to try to get to sleep. After an unknown amount of time, he felt a soft nudge to his shoulder. His eyes flashed open and he looked to where his awakening had come from.  
  
"Marlene? What is it?" Sora asked sleepily.  
  
"The electricity is out in the house." Marlene squeaked in fear.  
  
"So?"  
  
"The fusebox is in the basement, but there's something down there, and everyone else is asleep."  
  
"What time is it?" Sora asked drowsily as he rubbed his eyes.  
  
"It's 4:22."  
  
"Alright, I'll go with you." Sora became more alert as he slid his bottom half to plant his feet on the ground. He grabbed his shirt from the floor, put it on quickly and followed Marlene to the door which led down to the basement.  
  
As Marlene opened the door, Sora turned on the flashlight he had installed in his arm and led the way down the stairs, the girl behind him. The stairs creaked under their every step.  
  
They descended the final step and Sora scoped the whole basement with his flashlight.   
  
Marlene screamed and clung to Sora's right arm for dear life.  
  
"What is it?" Sora asked.  
  
"Something touched me from behind. It was really cold." Marlene's body trembled in a terrified way.  
  
"I don't see anything." Sora said as he lit the area directly behind where Marlene had been.  
  
Quick little steps came from behind Sora. He turned around quickly, his light fixed upon a shadow heartless. The shadow was aglow with crimson light, it's eyes flashing green once in a while. Marlene screamed in fear, tightening her grip on Sora's arm and closing her eyes.  
  
"You!" Sora kicked at the shadow, which flattened to the ground, avoiding his foot.  
  
Sora cursed himself for leaving his key blade upstairs as he searched like mad for the shadow.  
  
"Marlene, go upstairs and wake up the others. I think they have an infestation." Sora said.  
  
Marlene shook her head, still clinging to Sora's arm, eyes still closed tightly.  
  
"Marlene, please, you have to go get the others. I'll make sure they don't come after you, I promise."  
  
Marlene nodded and as soon as she had let go of Sora, she ran up the stairs, her steps as noisy as they were rapid.  
  
Sora punched a code into his arm and a long dark green saber came from the tip, replacing his hand and finger which went into the arm. He took the handle of the saber, another of a blue like color soon replacing it on his left arm.  
  
"C'mon." Sora said in a low angry tone.  
  
Shadows immediately came at him, all either clawing at his legs or jumping up onto his body. He used a spinning combo to swat off most of the shadows that had come onto his upper body. The ones on his legs were dizzied just enough for Sora to kick them off. He summoned up an Ars Arcanum to finish off a second wave of the small heartless, which them summoned up a fleet of dark balls and soldier heartless.  
  
Sora sent a Blizzaga wave at the front men, which gave him enough distraction time to shatter the frozen heartless and sent painful shards into the heartless behind those.  
  
As Darkballs swarmed around him, Sora took out as many as he could see. He missed one, which went behind him. Just before it could send a wave of dark magic into him a machine gun sounded off, instantly killing the dark ball and any other of the heartless that had been foolish enough to join it.  
  
"Cain't you take care o' yourself, foo?" Barret's angry tone echoed into the basement as more shots rang off, killing off more heartless.  
  
As much as he didn't like Barret, Sora was happy to see him, but his attention quickly fled to more of the infestation. Squall had his gun blade ready as Zell punched out as many of the heartless as he could, both aiding Sora with the melee combat.  
  
"Dangit, where the heck are these things comin' from?!!" Barret yelled as he took out a dark ball.  
  
"They just appear wherever there is a lack of light." Sora said as he stabbed a soldier.  
  
"That makes sense." Zell said between frogging a dark ball and kicking a shadow heartless. "We haven't been down her in months."  
  
"Remind me to come down here on occasion." Squall said as he pulled the trigger of his gun blade which was embedded into a dark ball's skin.  
  
There was a long pause after that last heartless met it's end. The four men looked around the basement suspiciously. Sora punched in a sequence into his arm, a beeping sound beginning immediately.  
  
"Whuzzat?" Zell asked as he looked where Sora was watching a screen on his arm intently.  
  
"I'm scanning for anymore heartless." Sora said, not taking his eyes from the screen.  
  
Squall tried to get a look at the screen on Sora's arm, but went back to using his own eyes in search of anymore of the monsters.  
  
Sora turned the scanner off, immediately retracting the blue saber, but keeping the green one out just in case.  
  
"I don't think there's anymore, none strong enough to be picked up on the scanner anyways." Sora said calmly, taking a potion out of his pant's pocket and drinking it quickly, tossing three more to the others.  
  
"That's good." Zell let out a huge yawn, "I'm goin' back to bed."  
  
Zell hopped up the stairs, zipping past Barret.  
  
Sora awoke in a startled manner. He found Rinoa and Marlene standing over him, laughing at his awkward position on the couch, his legs dangling over the top and his head on the floor.  
  
"Ow…" Sora said in a grunted tone as he managed to get his body fully on the couch and sit up straight. "What time is it?"  
  
"It's 10:04 in the morning. You sleep too much." Rinoa said in a perky tone.  
  
"Well I was up early fighting off heartless, so I missed a wink or two." Sora said in an annoyed tone as he rubbed his eyes.  
  
"That's why we let you sleep so late. But after a while we needed the couch." Marlene said with a giggle.  
  
Sora rolled his eyes as Rinoa and Marlene left him to get up.  
  
As soon as he was fully dressed, Sora was put to work helping Zell, Barret and Squall work on repairing the basement, which could've been mistaken for a war sight with all of the bullet holes and broken items.  
  
"We just need to find wherever the heartless got in and patch that off, then we'll get all of the trash and destroyed items out." Squall said.  
  
As he worked on putting various pictures and other items into a box, Sora couldn't help looking through some of the items. He found pictures of various people, some he recognized, some he didn't. Finally, he found a picture he remembered. It was of himself, Aerith, Cid, Yuffie, Squall or Leon, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi.  
  
It was after he, Kairi, Goofy, and Donald had come back from Hollow Bastion after fighting Riku. Yuffie thought it would make a good picture because of how much of an accomplishment it had been. Sora didn't think she was referring to him and Kairi, but of Hollow Bastion and how important it had been to Squall, Yuffie, Cid, and Aerith. He didn't want to think of it pertaining to him or anything, but he remember Yuffie winking at him when she had suggested he and Kairi stand next to each other.  
  
He remembered it didn't feel right to not have Riku there. Kairi had agreed, but Yuffie had her mind made up. There was no arguing with that girl, and Sora didn't really want to disprove that fact either.  
  
So the picture was taken. He remembered after the flash that Yuffie was mad because of that 'stupid grin' as she called it that had been on Sora's face messed up the whole shot. As the key bearer remembered or tried to, he had felt really uneasy near Kairi, especially after all that had happened.  
  
After a while, Sora stuffed the picture back into the box with the others and stacked that box with the rest of the junk.  
  
(I wonder if Kairi has that picture.) Sora thought. (I hate nostalgia.)  
  
Sora gave it a bit more thought.  
  
(No…I hate being in situations I can't control.)  
  
END OF CHAPTER 3 


	4. Chapter 4: Regrets

The Promise  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Sora was never used to staying in places for more then two days. He was beginning to feel cramped up in the boarding house as he waited for Cid to come in. He wanted that upgrade on his arm, and as much as he hated it, he would have to wait.  
  
Sora found himself getting more rest then he was used to, leaving his body bored, and after the first two days, he got fed up and began going outside for training. On occasion Zell would fight him for fun, saying he "liked beating up old guys".   
  
Sora was reminded of himself when he was twenty when he would fight Zell. Zell was loud, but he was tough enough to back it up. Sora remembered once in a while when he would bite off more then he could chew whenever he fought in the stadium, especially in the Hades cup when he would fight without any potions or healing items with him. Phil said he took too many unnecessary chances, but hey, that's what happens when your young and overconfident. You have to have someone beat the tar out of you before you wizened up.  
  
Once in a while, Barret would come out when they were fighting and yell tips to them, to the disliking of Sora. Eventually, Rinoa, Squall and Marlene began watching the two duke it out.   
  
"Am I too quick, old man?" Zell asked in a joking tone as he dodged Sora's front thrust.  
  
"Nope, but your leaving a disgusting trail. YAH!" Sora smacked Zell in the leg with a side swipe, nearly knocking him off his feet.  
  
Zell had more energy to boot, that being his advantage some times. But Sora still had more experience, and could judge at times what Zell would do next. This went on for 4 days, and Zell got bored.  
  
That was the night before Squall challenged Sora.  
  
"Are you sure?" Sora asked when they were out in the field in the midmorning's sun. "I don't want to embarrass you in front of your woman."  
  
"I've gotten a little better over these past ten years." Squall said, a half smile on his face.  
  
"C'mon Squall, show 'em whatcha got." Barret bellowed from the side line, where Rinoa was watching politely.  
  
"I hope you've gotten better." Sora said as he brought out his Oathkeeper Key blade.  
  
"I've gotten an upgrade or two as well." Squall brought out the Lion Heart gun blade.  
  
"Impressive." Sora said, feeling a bit of envy. He turned his head to where Marlene was standing. "Marlene, if you'll do the honors?"  
  
Marlene nodded and raised her arm vertically. She took a step back and brought her arm down quickly.  
  
"Begin!" She said loudly.  
  
Both men charged forward. Their weapons clashed, sparks flying as both tested their strength. Sora took a step forward, then another. He sent a thrust of power into his key blade, forcing Squall back and opening up a section of attack for Sora.  
  
Squall brought his gun blade up in defense, causing more sparks to come from both weapons. Again and again they would bring back their weapons for an attempt at a hit, but the metallic weapons continually clashed. When one would take a step to his right, the other would do the same. When one would bring his weapon back to attack, the other would be ready to block.  
  
"We gotta hit each other at some point, Leon." Sora said in a tense voice.  
  
"You're doing good for your age, Key bearer." Squall replied. "And don't call me Leon!"  
  
Squall brought his blade back, and as Sora thought he would just bring it back in a thrust, rather the SeeD jumped back and sent a fire attack at the old warrior.  
  
Sora countered with a blizzard, which gave Squall enough time to get behind the key bearer. Squall began to bring his blade down into Sora's back, but Sora quickly turned around in time to narrowly block the gun blade's edge.  
  
"So we can use magic, eh?" Sora said with a grin.  
  
"Whatever you need to fight, old boy." Squall said with a laugh, as they continued their spar.  
  
"You're getting worse, you know that?" Wakka, 19, said as he smacked Tidus, 17, in the head with his blitz ball.  
  
"I'm just giving you a fair chance, Goat boy." Tidus said, referring to the sprig of hair on Wakka's chin.  
  
"You're only jealous." Wakka replied, stroking his chin before again tossing the blitz ball at Tidus.  
  
"Whatever!" Tidus whacked the ball back at Wakka, then charged in at the older boy with his staff ready.  
  
"I don't see what their trying to prove." Selphie said in a snooty tone as she and Kairi watched the two boys fighting.  
  
"I think their trying to impress you." Kairi said in a teasing tone.  
  
"Oh hush. Those two are a couple of clowns. I remember having to beat them a couple of times, along with Sora and Riku-oops." Selphie bit her lip. "Sorry…"  
  
Kairi shook her head.  
  
"It's okay." Kairi began. "It's good to know their memory is still alive."  
  
"GAAAAAH!! YOU HIT MY EYEBALL OUT YOU SICKO!!!" Tidus yelled from his spot on the beach, where he had been knocked on his rear and held a hand over his left eye.  
  
"I did not, you baby! Now get back up, or else you forfeit!" Wakka yelled, shaking his fist in the air.  
  
"Find my eye, you psycho!" Tidus yelled back.  
  
Kairi and Selphie gave each other a look, then both began laughing.  
  
Before the spar could go into overtime, Rinoa wisely suggested the two call a draw. Neither were making any progress on the other and it was close to dinner. Zell had gone in out of boredom, and only Barret and Marlene were really watching.  
  
Just as all were about to go inside though…  
  
"What's that whistling sound?" Sora asked, stopping to listen.  
  
Both Rinoa and Squall looked about for anything, Barret trying to hear whatever Sora was. Finally Marlene spoke up.  
  
"It's Cid! He's coming!" She said in a loud excited tone, jumping up and down in anticipation.  
  
All five of them looked to the sky. Indeed a gummi ship was coming. It looked like it was going to crash.  
  
"That's Cid alright." Squall said in a tone that suggested he was used to this.  
  
"Crap, can't that guy drive?" Sora demanded.  
  
"He can, he just likes to show off." Rinoa added with a laugh.  
  
Squall was right, just as it looked like Cid would nose dive straight into the grass, he pulled up quickly, doing a barrel roll and landing neatly 10 yards from the house. His gummi ship was, from what Sora could remember a Hyperion but with serious modification, but it was still impressive.  
  
"Wow…" was all Sora could say.  
  
"Beautiful ship, huh? He's still good at that kind of stuff, even after 3 years of retirement." Squall said as he stepped up next to Sora.  
  
"Retire?" Sora gave Squall a disbelieving look, then turned back to look at the ship. "He doesn't seem like the type."  
  
"That's what I said, but he said he just wanted an excuse to go on a long vacation. Gepetto owns his accessory shop now."  
  
Sora had to jog his memory a bit before the name Gepetto came back to his memory. The guy was probably dead in his time. He wondered how that puppet was doing, Pistachio or whatever his name was. He came back to reality when he noticed Squall receive a hard smack on the back by a graying haired Cid.  
  
"It's been a year or so, hasn't it, youngster?" Cid said with that familiar gruff tone as he greeted Marlene and the others who had gathered around him. Sora stood stone still. He wondered how Cid would react to who he was.  
  
"You guys got a new boarder or something? Who the heck is he?" Cid asked, pointing at Sora.  
  
Squall and Rinoa looked at each other uncertainly, wondering how to explain this. Barret didn't seem to want to bother with it.  
  
"Cid." Sora said firmly, getting the mechanic's attention.  
  
"Yeah, that's my name. Now what's yours?" Cid stomped over to Sora.  
  
Sora noted he was less threatening then Barret, but he still didn't want to get on this guy's nerves.  
  
"It's me…" Sora gulped. "Sora…"  
  
Cid stayed quiet for a second, blinking in disbelief.  
  
"You lyin' son of a-!" Squall cut him off by clearing his own throat.  
  
"He's telling the truth, Cid." Squall said, his voice reflecting that even calm tone he could use so well.  
  
Cid looked to the Rinoa, who nodded, then to Barret, who at first grunted a bit then added "He's right, Cid."  
  
Cid turned around and looked Sora square in the eye. Sora didn't step down, nor give any hint of wanting to.  
  
"Prove it." Cid said in a tough voice.  
  
"Where's Mog?" Sora asked in the same tone.  
  
"How do you know about Mog?" Cid asked.  
  
"He and a few other Moogles ran a synthesis shop up stairs from your accessory shop. He used to work for you." Sora said, remembering the odd looking creature.  
  
"That don't prove anything." Cid spat.  
  
"Wait…Remember when I came into your accessory shop when I was 14, and you had me deliver a book to Merlin. It was where I met Pooh. I told you about it when I came back to your shop. Remember?" Sora begged.  
  
"Pooh?" Squall said in a confused tone.  
  
"What the heck is a Pooh?" Barret asked.  
  
After some odd glances between one another, Cid's face relaxed a bit.  
  
"Well…." Cid began, bringing out a cigarette and just putting it in his mouth, not lighting it. "I don't know any man who would want to lie about something like that."  
  
Sora didn't know whether to laugh or to feel insulted right then.  
  
"I thought you defeated Maleficent." Cid exclaimed inside the house in the parlor where Sora and Squall were explaining about what had happened, Sora doing most of the explaining.  
  
"I did, but she was alive. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself." Sora replied. He was getting more and more annoyed by the idea of Maleficent being alive the more he told everyone. Yet, he thought, it was possibly that feeling of helplessness that annoyed him.  
  
"Well, this ain't good." Cid said.  
  
"I won't argue there." Sora replied.  
  
"I can't believe you fell for that though." Cid said in a more parental tone then Sora cared for.  
  
"Well a beggar told me about it and gave me the gummi to get there. I figured if it was a trick, I should make sure no one else falls for it." Sora attempted to defend himself.  
  
"Well, you're not doing a very good job of it. We have to get you back to your time some how."  
  
Cid paced the small area once.  
  
"She took my ultima key chain when she sent me back. I think she has something planned with it." Sora added.  
  
"So she sent you back to a certain point in time and took your best weapon." Cid chuckled a bit. "Dang, it sure sucks to be you."  
  
"Thank you for that update." Sora replied dryly.  
  
"I didn't mean it in a way to depress you." Cid cleared his throat and continued. "She wants you vulnerable. Something's going to happen at this point in time that I'm gonna guess is supposed to make you kick the bucket."  
  
Sora's arm sparked loudly right then, getting attention away from the current topic the three were talking about. Sora was astonished that he hadn't felt any pain that time.  
  
"You need that fixed, kid." Cid said in a concerned voice.  
  
"Well, everyone's told me you can sell me parts that can build a replacement that's way better." Sora replied.  
  
Cid stroked his chin once and grunted a bit, as if he were debating something. His eyes rolled to look up and he cleared his throat hard. He took a step towards the exit, and gestured to Sora.  
  
"Come with me." He said.  
  
Sora looked to Squall, then back to Cid and nodded.  
  
The two men were outside, Cid leading the way to his Hyperion ship. He brought out a remote looking device and punched in what Sora thought was one button, but in reality was a series of smaller buttons. The two stopped about 10 feet from the ship. Cid crossed his arms in an impatient gesture. Sora began to ask what was going on, but a platform came down from the bottom of the ship. Cid stepped onto it and gestured for Sora to follow suit.  
  
As Sora boarded the platform it began to go up, startling the key bearer a bit. The platform reached the point where it reconnected to the ships floor, and Cid immediately began walking to the right, which was a corridor that looked like it had not been cleaned in a while. Cid entered a door to his left, Sora following at a respectful distance. They were inside what would've been a large room, if not for the various tools and weapons hung in various places on the wall, each with either a label telling it's purpose or it's history. Cid walked over to a table far across the room, past various guns and swords, and a very impressive collection of lances.  
  
"Here it is." Cid said proudly after he had reached the table. He was holding up a cloth wrapped item that looked to be the size of a loaf of bread. He turned to face Sora, who had stopped to admire a large broadsword with round gems embedded in it. Sora watched as Cid unwrapped the parcel.  
  
"I was working on this for Barret. It was a special order sent to me about 3 years ago, before I had met him. And well…" Cid chuckled a bit. "The only problem was I had made it for the wrong arm!"  
  
Sora's eyes widened as he looked at what he thought had to be the most impressive piece of mechanical craftsmanship he had ever seen. It was a left mechanical arm, and except for the chrome color it looked almost exactly like an arm. The knuckles of the hand looked made for punching, but all in all it probably wouldn't receive a second glance on the street.  
  
"You'd be surprised how much artillery I put in this thing. I remembered Barret was a bit trigger happy, so I stuffed a small cavalry in this. I have millions of alternate weapons for it that you can summon through a system I developed from the gummi block alternator." Cid cleared his throat, allowing the introduction of his work to sink in.   
  
"And for melee combat I was trying to decide what weapons to put in there. That's when I came up with this." He tapped the index finger twice and the hand went back into the arm, and to replace it came what looked like the end of a staff. "When we were talking, I remembered this function of the arm. I think I can make it compatible with your key blade."  
  
"What do you mean?" Sora asked.  
  
"Well, if I can make it compatible with a key chain, you could have two weapons at your disposal. All I have to do is get the wiring hooked up and you'll be all set. We can make it into the key blade once we've got it hooked up to your arm." Cid waited a minute before continuing. "So what do you think?"  
  
Sora lifted his current left arm and looked it over. Every dent and scuff had a story. He realized how much the arm meant to him, and how many times it had saved his life. It sparked once, a sizzle sound following that.  
  
"Well?" Cid asked again.  
  
Sora looked to the mechanic and nodded.  
  
"Alright, let's get started."  
  
When Sora had lost that arm, he remembered how weak he had felt. He could never actually feel in that arm, and he had been called a sort of freak because of it.  
  
He didn't remember the exact day it had happened, but as Cid operated on his arm, he reminisced of how he could've prevented the whole thing.  
  
It had been when he was in his early twenties. He had been on his own for a few months, and as he had traveled from world to world, closing doors to heartless and saving lives he had earned quite a bit of fame.  
  
Whenever he walked down the street, people would wave to him, call out his name, and offer him food and drink. Women would swarm to him, hanging all over him and offering certain pleasures he was hesitant to decline at times. Whenever he was in town or on a certain world, any who had fought the heartless gave up their practice for the time that he was there. They didn't want any unnecessary work.  
  
It was on a certain world, Dionysus Moon as it was called, named for the Greek god of celebration. Sora had come there out of a rumor that a large heartless was terrifying the city there. He was arrogant, laughing aloud as the mayor of the city told him about the heartless. Sora began to leave the city to take care of the problem, but he was being given more attention then he had in past cities.  
  
He was offered a banquet to replenish his strength before he left. He ended up staying for two hours there. He was given a certain wine by the barrel as a gift of thanks from a winery there. Bags of munnies flooded to him, making him waste another three hours of packing all of the gifts onto the Ragnarok. Night had fallen and he had wanted to set out, but the mayor had planned a party for him.  
  
"Oh c'mon, sir, I need to get going." He had protested.  
  
"But we planned all of this just for you. Everyone will think you are rude if you leave before the party ends." The mayor replied.  
  
Sora gave in and attended. The music blared as people ate and drank until their bodies would not allow them. Women were hired to dance for the men. Sora joked that he was not going to be able to leave the town because of how much fun he was having.  
  
Hours passed. People lay unconscious on the floor. Some of the men had been carried off by hired entertainers for the night. Sora had wisely kept to only so much wine. Some part of him had been yelling at him to leave ever since the beginning of the party, but he had ignored it for so long it was just more noise in the back ground.  
  
He felt tired and sick, and began to leave for his ship. But there was one woman left.  
  
"I have to go get some sleep for tomorrow. It's very late." Sora had said, his speech a little slurred from the wine.  
  
"But do not leave me alone. The shadows will come in the night and steal my heart." The woman had clung to him in a desperate way.  
  
"You should go home too then." Sora replied.  
  
"But don't you want my company, my lord?" The woman ran her hands through his shoulder length, slightly spiky hair in a loving manner.   
  
"I..I really need to go-" Sora had backed up a bit, but the woman had followed his step on cue.   
  
Sora's breath came in quicker paces and his body felt more and more stiff as the woman edged closer and closer to him. She ran her hands all over his chest, finally, both on his shoulders. She stroked both of his arms slowly as she moved her head to the side of his.   
  
She blew a bit of cold breath into his ear and whispered "But not right away…"  
  
Her perfume was heavy, intoxicating almost all of Sora's senses.  
  
"Gaah!!!" It was back in reality now. Sora was still 42, and a sudden shock running through his arm had awakened him from his daydream.  
  
"Sorry 'bout that." Cid said, not taking his eyes from his work.  
  
"Don't worry about it." Sora said quietly.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Cid asked in a concerned tone.  
  
"Bad memories."  
  
The only compensation Sora could think of for that night so long ago was that he had not slept with the woman. But he had allowed her to come to his ship with him and had been with her for what seemed like hours. And all he could think of during that night of sleep was Kairi and that hurt look on her face highlighted by rivers of tears.  
  
He had set off early that morning, wanting to get that bad dream out of his head. He also wanted to get this mission over with so he wouldn't have to face any of the locals.  
  
He had found the heartless. It turned out to be just an Invisible. Easy enough, right?  
  
"Alright, monster, your days of terrorizing Dionysus City are over! Prepare to meet your doom!!!" Sora remembered yelling that.  
  
The Invisible looked like it was chuckling as it looked the key bearer over.   
  
"I've taken care of worse Heartless then you. C'mon!"   
  
Sora almost cringed from how stupid he remembered that sounding.  
  
The battle was a little harder then he had expected. The Invisible had pulled his invisible trick from the beginning of the battle. Sora knew when to jump exactly to avoid a whole mess of pain as the purple ring of fire began to surround him.  
  
The Invisible was rather good from the past Invisibles Sora remembered fighting. He felt the effects of the previous night's party. His focus was off because of the wine and his calm was gone because of previous night's regrets.  
  
But, his past battles instilled in him a feeling of knowing he would win. Whether the feeling was well placed was still waiting on judgment.  
  
Finally, the Invisible began to show fatigue. He began to use the invisibility trick, and Sora knew exactly where he would be when he reappeared from where he had disappeared. He could almost taste the victory. All he had to do was place one well powered shot and it would all be over.  
  
How right he was…  
  
As the ring of fire was closing in, Sora jumped at the right second to avoid it. But, to this day, he didn't know what it had been, but the most simple details to have noticed at the crucial moment had missed the eye of the key master.  
  
As he jumped from the ring, it was as if everything were paused. The Invisible must've planned this whole battle. As Sorabrought his blade down on where he thought the Invisible was, that heartless lived up to his given title. He came down on Sora from the human's right, his large broadsword gleaming in the morning sun. Sora turned to the right angle to avoid being separated from his torso, but at a slightly lesser price.  
  
He let out a cry that sounded more animal then human, like a bear that just stepped into a trap. Before he knew it, Sora had sent a firaga into the Invisible, instantly killing it. As he watched the Invisible's body disappear in death, he looked to the sand covered ground, where a trail of splattered blood lay in uneven layers across the limitless grains.   
  
He remembered having heard a slightly quieted thud from a few feet away, but had not paid attention to it. Not until now. His body trembled horribly, making any who gave him a slight glance think he had just come in from a cold blizzard. He looked in childish disbelief at the charred nub that was connected to his elbow's joint. The pain hit him like a 30 caliber shot.  
  
He slumped over to where the trail of blood ended, where his arm lay, slightly twitching, but not noticeably. He threw aside his key blade and hesitantly reached for the arm. His hand pulled back a bit at first, but as he lifted the arm from the ground. He remembered he felt almost sickened at how warm it was. He never remembered seeing so much blood before then, especially so much of his own. He looked into the end where it had once been connected to him. The edges of the bone looked almost like splinters, yet from a distance it was a smooth looking cut, quick and even.  
  
His arm, or what was left of it connected to him, was bleeding less then it had been earlier, but it was still capable of making him bleed to death.  
  
He set his arm down near his key blade and sent a small blizzard spell onto the elbow's joint. He gritted his teeth, remembering how cold it felt.  
  
Hours later, he came into town, carrying his dismembered arm in the crook of his right like it was a child or something. He received many odd stares as he passed a lot of people he had watched become drunk. He walked straight to the medical facility and there a doctor thawed his arm and helped stop the bleeding. The dismembered fore arm had been tossed in the furnace out of orders from the doctor. Sora recalled the doctor "not wanting that disgusting thing stinking his office up".  
  
He had paid the doctor and left the world within the hour, not speaking to anyone or for that matter looking at anyone.  
  
That same day, he went to Gaia 25 to get a refuel, and had met Emory Kai's father and boss, Thor Kai and had gotten his current mechanical arm there.  
  
"All done." Cid said finally. "Go ahead and give it a try. I'm gonna bet it'll feel a lot more natural then that last arm did."  
  
Sora lifted his arm from Cid's work table and looked it over. He twiddled the fingers in a rhythmic pattern, impressed at the reaction time. It was almost like had his hand back. He balled the fingers into a fist and began punching the air.  
  
"This is great, Cid. I don't remember the last time I was able to punch so quickly." Sora said, feeling a nostalgic childish giddiness.  
  
"Good. Lemme know whenever I can help you out." Cid said with a proud grin.  
  
Sora thought for a moment.  
  
"Actually, there is something you can do for me." Sora said with a serious tone.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 4. 


	5. Chapter 5: Legitimacy

The Promise  
  
Chapter 5  
  
By: Samurai Noble  
  
"We'll be headin' out in the morning." Cid told Squall as he joined the few people at the boarding house for a meal an hour after equipping Sora with the new arm.  
  
"So Sora's going to be leaving too?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"Yup." Cid accompanied it with a nod as he shoved another bite into his mouth. "He wants to ride along I suppose. Really I think he just needs to get movin' again."  
  
"Why?" Zell asked curiously.  
  
"Well, he's been fighting them heartless 28 or 29 years from what he's told me, so he's had to move around a lot and that kind of living just gets embedded into your brain so much that you can barely stand still. It makes it impossible to call one place home really." Cid replied. "Sorta reminds me of back in my younger years when I was just like that."  
  
"Speaking of Sora, where is he anyways?" Marlene asked in a worried tone.  
  
"He's outside givin' that new arm a test." Cid had a satisfied look on his face as he continued. "Kinda makes one proud to see their craftsmanship appreciated so much."  
  
Sora, now wearing his upper armor and the protective collar, watched the house from the distance he had chosen to begin getting used to the new arm. It almost reminded him of Destiny Islands. Almost. By now, the kids there, or the adults there would be outside at a bonfire or just hanging out or whatever.  
  
Sora let out a deep yawn and shook his head a bit.  
  
"Now, let's get started." Sora said in a quiet determined voice.  
  
The hand of the mechanical arm folded into the arm and out came the barrel of a small cannon. He raised it high into the air, then brought it down quickly to a horizontal position and fired off a Firaga attack at what he assumed was a far off rock face.  
  
Within seconds, his target was decimated. Sora looked in shock at the cannon then at the now nonexistent large boulder.  
  
"Boy, he wasn't joking when he said this thing enhanced my magic. I gotta be careful with that one."  
  
He went through different attachments, seeing how much each weighed, how quickly it fired and how much ammo was used. He was becoming more and more pleased with his new weapon. However, there was one last attachment to try out.  
  
"Key blade adaptor. But will it work…?" Sora asked himself. "One way to find out."  
  
He summoned up the staff like limb of the arm and brought out a key chain to attach to it. He selected the Lion Heart. He attached the key chain to a loop at the crook of the arm.  
  
He waited a second, watching expectantly for a reaction from the staff. After a while, he sighed in disappointment.  
  
"I don't know why I thought that would work…" He said coldly.  
  
He began to detach the key chain. The staff then morphed into a translucent sword like key blade, from the hilt of the blade to the end it was like a mixture of blue, gold and many other colors. At the far end of the key blade, a magnificent lion's head stuck down ward, making it the true key shape.  
  
"Whoa…" Sora was impressed.  
  
He swung it forward then sideways, impressed at how light it was.  
  
"I think I could get to like this…"  
  
It was morning. Sora had been up all night, a child like eagerness in him for the trip towards…  
  
"Where will we be going, Cid?" Sora asked as he followed Cid towards the Hyperion ship.  
  
"I'm hopin' to make it to Traverse Town by the end of the day." Cid replied, not looking back at the Key master.  
  
The good byes prior to the short conversation had been harder then Sora thought they would be. Squall and Rinoa offered to let him stay there if he ever needed to, Rinoa crying a bit but still smiling. Barret and Zell had shaken his hand and Marlene seemed to have been the most distressed about Sora's leaving.   
  
"I'll come back and visit, I promise." His reply to Marlene's sadness echoed through his mind.  
  
"I gotta quit doin' that…." Sora said under his breath.  
  
"Doin' what?" Cid asked.  
  
"Just talking to myself."  
  
"That's really weird, Sora."  
  
"So our brave hero wishes to go to Traverse Town, does he?" Maleficent scoffed as she watched the key blade master and Cid travel through the vast sea of stars towards their intended destination. She sat in the deep chamber of Crimson Castle, darkness all around her. The chill in the air was like that of being in a graveyard in mid-winter, the smell included.  
  
"I believe we can put a halt to this, can we not?" The sorceress looked to the shadows with a confident smirk. If one looked close enough, they could almost see the tail of a snake slithering off.  
  
"We should've seen Wonderland by now at least…I don't understand what's going on…" Cid mumbled under his breath as he watched the Hyperion's navigation chart.  
  
"Don't tell me we're lost…" Sora said in a frustrated tone.  
  
"We're not, according this, we're right on course." Cid replied.  
  
"Then why aren't we there yet?"  
  
"I'm just as confused about this as you are hero."  
  
"Great…Hey wait a minute." Sora looked out the window of the main cabin at the stars. He saw a string of stars placed in a thin, yet squiggly strip almost resembling a worm. "I don't remember that constellation…"  
  
"What constellation?" Cid asked as he stepped over to Sora's side and looked up at the worm. "Funny, neither do I…and I've been up and down this route almost my entire life."  
  
"Maybe we are lost…" Sora trailed off.  
  
"Now hold on, maybe neither of us noticed it up until now."  
  
"No, you would have remembered it, and so would I…That thing isn't there in the future."  
  
"Maybe it's just some new worlds bein' restored."  
  
"We need to check it out." Sora said in a determined tone.  
  
"Now?!" Cid burst out and turned to look at the key blade master. "Are you crazy? We don't know what's out there!"  
  
"Let's find out."  
  
"We have to be smart about this, kid. This could be a set up. Maleficent might have something' to do with this…"  
  
Sora began to object, but remembered his history with Maleficent tricking him.  
  
"Wait, some of those stars around it…" Cid looked up at the worm again. "Those stars near the worm look similar to the ones around Agrabah."  
  
"Really?" Sora looked back up at the worm as well. "How can you tell when it's so far away?"  
  
"I've been goin to Agrabah a lot, and that stuff just sticks in your head after the 30th trip or so."  
  
"Hmm, I haven't been back there in a while…not in at least 12 years…" Sora noticed the odd glance Cid was giving him. "Well, not in 12 years from my time."  
  
"The warp hole to Agrabah should be close." Cid began as he strode over to the controls.  
  
"On to Agrabah then." Sora added.  
  
"You could add a please to that." the old mechanic said in a grumpy tone.  
  
"Please…"  
  
"Better."  
  
*One week later…*  
  
(This is juuust perfect.) Sora thought as he looked over the wide expanse of sand. It was like a light brown ocean.  
  
It had taken a day to get to the warp hole, and out of nowhere, the ship's engine just gave out as they were beginning to pull into the world's atmosphere.   
  
Cid had to stay behind to fix his beloved ship and Sora had decided to head to Agrabah's city in hopes of getting some food, water, or if he was lucky both. The water tank that supplied the water to the ship had been busted. Cid explained to Sora that there couldn't be any way the tank had busted upon crashing because the water tank was almost indestructible and well enough inside the ship's innards that it shouldn't have been able to bust. Upon closer inspection of the tank, the hole looked almost unnatural.   
  
"I think this was a set up, kid." Cid had told Sora before he left 5 days ago. "Someone wants us here. Or you, at least."  
  
"Wow that makes me feel better." Sora replied sarcastically.  
  
"Just be careful. We're a long way from the city, and there are bandits out there." Cid cautioned the key blade master  
  
A long way was right. Cid didn't have any form of ground transportation on the ship. He had never needed it, so the mechanic had drastically underestimated the distance the city was.  
  
(Geez, I guess there won't be any condo developments out here any time soon. But, mother's ghost, why couldn't there be at least a well or something?!) The key master thought in annoyance.  
  
Cid had given him a canteen of water, stuff he had saved for an emergency such as this, no doubt, a chunk of what Sora assumed was hardtack, and a communications accessory for his arm. The once young hero had long become accustomed to being without what he called "frills". He had learned how to ration food and water when he needed to. But the key blade wielder had long ignored training for the near unbearable heat of the desert.   
  
He desperately wished to take off the heavy armor he had on, but it was the only protection his skin had from the blazing sun. One precaution could never be made without sacrificing something the man would need desperately. Circumstances will never be on one's side, he had reasoned over time. And the principle never failed him.  
  
Sora had brought out a pair of dark lenses goggles he had for emergencies. The lenses were made from a special glass that protected one's eyes from even the brightest of lights. He had obtained them years ago from a friendly merchant. The merchant had this accent that reminded Sora of a middle eastern man, but the merchant, Rin was what he said his name was, claimed he was Albud or Al Bad or something like that.  
  
Sora spotted something in the distance.  
  
(Oh great…Flying heartless. Just what I need.)  
  
Five flying warriors in a V-formation were headed straight for the key blade master. They stopped 10 yards in the air above Sora, circling him as if they were buzzards rather then heartless.  
  
"Might as well give this thing a real test." The middle-aged warrior said easily as he shifted his arm into a cannon like form.  
  
A brave heartless, the leader from how it carried itself, dove down first. Sora took aim and sent a fire speel straight through the winged creature's gut.  
  
He shot again at another one, relieving it of it's head. Two of the remaining three dove down at the same time, splitting up as they approached.  
  
"Wow, you're actually strategizing. I'm scared now." The warrior's tone was heavy in sarcasm as he picked off the one who had dove to the right. The remaining heartless dove straight for the warrior's head, but was quickly knocked to the side by the key blade held in the other hand of the warrior. The remaining heartless began to ram Sora in the back, but was quickly smacked with the key blade and blasted with a shot of fire from the cannon.   
  
"Why do those weak things even bother to challenge me?" Sora asked no one in particular.  
  
"They prove for a good distraction." A smarmy tone came from behind him.  
  
Sora looked behind him, instantly a shot of pain went through him, followed by sudden darkness and spell of sleep.  
  
"Wow, you really let him have it." Iago said as he looked over the unconscious body of the key blade master from Jafar's shoulder.  
  
"I have much to settle with him." Jafar said darkly as he held his cobra head staff up to his eyes to look over the few spots of blood that had managed to find their way to the staff. "You've no idea how good that felt, Iago."  
  
"I can well imagine. But, geez you'd think the idiot would know to look behind him once in a while." The parrot said.  
  
"Well, the heartless did prove to be a good distraction I suppose, but the key bearer has a strong tendency to ignore anything coming from behind him." Jafar smiled, obviously satisfied with himself. "I'm surprised he judged the attack pattern of that last heartless well enough to guard his backside."  
  
His signature smug look came over him as quickly as had his smile earlier.  
  
"Now, watch the body. And when he wakes up, lead him to the oasis. Now, I must go prepare." Jafar said as Iago flew off of his shoulder to the sand.  
  
"Prepare what?" The parrot asked as the genie/magician left.  
  
"Fool, I need to hide this." Jafar held up a familiar looking black lamp. "Last time I fought him, he figured out it was my weak point. I will not let that happen again."  
  
"Geez, he acts like that was my fault." The parrot said in annoyance as his master left.  
  
"Uuhhh…." Sora groaned, blinking once or twice before sitting up. "What the heck happened…?" The key blade master wondered.   
  
He looked about his surroundings. He was on a hillside full of white wild flowers, similar to the ones he remembered from, well, actually he didn't remember ever coming across flowers such as these. This wasn't Agrabah. Where was he?   
  
The sweet smell of the wild flower's in the breeze quieted his usual danger instinct when he was in unfamiliar territory.  
  
He picked one of the flowers and looked at it closely. It felt real. He raised the flower to his nose. It smelled real. Or was this just a trick.  
  
His senses picked up one familiar sound. The ocean tide coming to the shore and gulls cawing, harmonizing the tides.  
  
He quickly got up and looked around as swiftly, his hand coming to his back where his key blade usually was. He began to wrap his fingers around the blade's hilt, but another familiar sound halted this action.  
  
A woman's voice, softer then anything the warrior was accustomed to, laughing off in the distance. He relinquished his hand from his blade's hilt and listened again for the sound. It came again, almost an eternity apart from the first. Sora ran towards the source of the sound quickly, his heart racing.  
  
"Maybe whoever this is can help me make sense of this." The warrior said, his voice like a small spring of hope welling up from his heart.  
  
As he approached, he heard the same voice, but this time in a speaking manner rather then laughter. The warrior increased his pace, finally coming to another hill, which he quickly crossed over. He stopped at the hill's peak and looked onward. A lone figure stood at the shore of a beach, looking on at the sea. It was a woman, Sora could tell, from her thin, well made form. The woman wore a straw hat, a feather sticking almost horizontally from the brim, and a pink sweater over a white sundress that came to her ankles, which stood over two bare feet in the wet sand of the beach. She stood at a point where her feet were at the edge of where the water could reach, bathing her toes lightly. Her long, dark red hair blew back, giving a momentary umbrella to her hands, which were both behind her back, intertwined in a way Sora could have recognized anywhere.  
  
"Kairi!!" Sora called out immediately as he rushed towards the woman.  
  
She didn't move any at all as the warrior ran to her. He stopped at about ten feet away. He began towards her cautiously, stopping at touching distance. He reached out, his hand almost afraid of touching the woman. His hand finally rested on the woman's delicate shoulder.  
  
It was cold.  
  
"Kairi?" Sora asked curiously.  
  
The woman turned to face him. Her face was pointed down.  
  
"Kairi, it's me, Sora…"  
  
The woman raised her head. Sora lurched back in surprise. The woman's face was that of a snake. The snake then pounced at Sora's face.  
  
"Aaah!!!" Sora yelled as he awoke.  
  
"Gaah!!" Iago screamed in shock, flying up into the air out of bird instinct.  
  
Sora looked around quickly. He was definitely in Agrabah. Everything was as it had been when he had been knocked out.  
  
"What was that?" Sora asked himself quietly.  
  
His breathing was quick and hard, his lungs begging for more and more air.  
  
Suddenly a wave of anger over came him. His teeth clenched as he realized how cruel his dream had been.  
  
"I was so close…" He said through his teeth. "Why did it have to feel so real?"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Iago asked as he flew back down to Sora.  
  
The Key blade holder immediately came to his needed senses and he focused on the parrot.  
  
"You!! How did you come back?!!" Sora demanded as he reached quickly for Iago with his right hand, grabbing the fat parrot and squeezing him in frustration.  
  
"Lemme go!!" The parrot yelled.  
  
"What are you doing here?!" Sora demanded, his voice darker. He gave the bird a firmer squeeze, taking out his frustration from the dream on the bird.  
  
"Lemme go and I'll tell you! I can't breath!" Iago yelled.  
  
Sora lightened the grip enough to allow Iago a much needed breath.  
  
"What's going on here, bird?" Sora demanded.  
  
"Uuhhh." The parrot searched his mind for an explanation that wouldn't blow the plan. "You were knocked out…by…a…thief!" I ago smiled, satisfied for how legitimate the lie sounded as he continued. "And I found you here and made sure nothing attacked you. You owe me your life."  
  
"Why would you help me?" Sora said angrily, suspicion in his tone. "I'm the one who defeated your master."  
  
"Yes, but…I….feel terrible about my past actions. I felt a tremendous guilt come over me as soon as I remembered how awful Jafar was and how I had helped him. I wanna turn over a new leaf, start anew, if you will."  
  
Sora gave Iago a suspicious look.  
  
"How'd you get out of that lamp?" Sora asked, trying to se if the parrot would falter in his story.  
  
"I was able to squeeze my way out. It took a while, but I managed it." Iago said confidently, the story becoming easier to add to.  
  
Sora sighed. The story sounded legitimate. How could he know whether or not it was possible for an animal of Iago's size to be able to get out of such a lamp.  
  
"Fine. I'll buy your story." Sora said as he let go of the bird and stood up.  
  
Iago let out a deep breath.  
  
(Good, he bought it.) Iago thought happily.  
  
"Where's the lamp?" Sora asked.  
  
Iago didn't feel quite as happy now.  
  
"The lamp…uh…I…tossed it down a well as soon as I got out." Iago gave a big grin, hoping it would seal the story.  
  
Sora rubbed his chin, looking the bird over. He could tell Iago as nervous about something.  
  
"Interesting. So you have no idea what may have happened to the lamp since, am I right?" Sora asked.  
  
"Yup. It's the honest truth." Iago said quickly.  
  
"So, someone could have that lamp and be able to set Jafar free anytime, am I right?"  
  
"Yeah…I think I saw some signs he was around the oasis. I remember hearing explosions. Honest. I'll even lead ya' to it."  
  
(He's hiding something, or planning something, one or the other.) Sora thought. (Maybe I'll just see what he's planning.)  
  
"How far away is this oasis?" Sora asked.  
  
"Pretty far. It might take at least a day." Iago said with a quick nod.  
  
"Alright. I guess it is my responsibility to stop anything Jafar has planned, being I have the key blade. Lead the way Iago."  
  
(I'll get to the bottom of this. One way or the other.) Sora thought as Iago began flying north from their current position.  
  
(He fell for it, I can't believe it!) Iago thought happily.  
  
(Sucker.) Both thought a the same time. 


End file.
